“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalms 133:1
On Wednesday, April 26, 2016, the credit union movement scored a huge victory in a show of unity between the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) of North Carolina. The $32 billion asset-sized credit union under the leadership of President/CEO Jim Blaine decided to re-affiliate its membership with CUNA, the largest credit union trade organization in the country.
Mr. Blaine withdrew SECU’s membership in 2014 over the requirement that his credit union must be a member of both CUNA and its state league. As a consequence of SECU’s disaffiliation, some argued that CUNA decided to launch a taskforce to review its longstanding policy of dual membership. Subsequently, the newly formed taskforce recommended to the CUNA board to change its bylaws to adopt the concept of membership choice. After CUNA’s membership overwhelming approved the by-law change for choice, SECU chose to re-affiliate and was welcomed back into the trade organization with open arms after a two year “leave of absence.” In addition, it appears that President/CEO Maurice Smith of Local Government Employees Credit Union, a large credit union also in North Carolina, played a part in helping to facilitate SECU’s re-affiliation (pictured in the April 27th Credit Union Times article with Jim Nussle and James Blaine).
In a family, brothers and sisters disagree, but at the end of the day each sibling is welcome to return home. Dissent and constructive criticism can give pause to self-examination. Iron sharpens iron and as a movement we become leaner and stronger. An important voice in the credit union industry has returned to CUNA and the trade organization has taken a hard, deliberate look in the mirror, saw the need for change, and restructured for the better. That is the credit union difference!
Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to work together in unity. Welcome home Brother Blaine, welcome home!
The CUEvangelist (q-van-gel-ist) 